BofA settlement with SEC okayed

February 22, 2010 at 2:47 pm

A federal judge okayed a $150 million Bank of America settlement with the SEC to end civil charges accusing the nation’s largest bank with misleading shareholders when it acquired Merrill Lynch. But law Professor Elizabeth Nowicki, both a former SEC and Wall Street attorney, says it is likely a short-lived “win” for BofA because the judge said in his written opinion that the bank failed to adequately disclose facts to its shareholders.

“It will turn out to be a huge loss for BofA given that the lawyers in the other pending lawsuits against it will use the judge’s words in the settlement opinion to help guide their litigation.”